Read about everything that you can do at the amazing St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park.
No matter where you live, St. Augustine, Florida should be a vacation destination for you. The oldest city in America offers many family fun activities that are sure to make your vacation an amazing one. When you are in St. Augustine, the one place for everyone to visit is The Alligator Farm.
Exhibits
The St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park features many different exhibits that offer something for everyone. Obviously, the zoo has vast quantities of alligators on exhibit, including the largest one, Maximo. Maximo is 15 feet 3 inches and weighs 1250 pounds. In addition to Maximo, the zoo has a Komodo dragon exhibit, albino alligators, and the Land of Crocodiles. Not only do they have these reptiles, but they have exotic birds and mammals on exhibit, birds of Africa, and a wading bird rookery.
Shows
In addition to the various exhibits at the Alligator Farm, the zoo also features different shows. Guests of the zoo can see alligators being fed live two times a day. There is also a show where people can learn important facts about alligators. Snakes and other reptiles come out two times a day in the Scales and Tails show. This show aims at dispelling myths about these “scaly friends.” If you are not a fan of reptiles, you can go to the Rainforest Review or Florida’s Forests Friends shows. These shows feature exotic parrots, animals from the rainforest, and plenty of animals that are native to Florida.
Extra Activities
The Alligator Farm also has a Conservation Center on Anastasia Island that can be rented out. The Conservation Center was recently built and can accommodate between 50 and 100 people. For anyone that has kids, the zoo could be a perfect location for their birthday party. For a price, anyone can have a birthday party at the zoo where a room is provided for eating, there is an education portion that features 2-3 animals and then, everyone is free to enjoy the zoo.
HIstory
The title of this zoo may lead you to believe it is just a place where many alligators are, but that is not true by any means. This magnificent zoo began in 1893 when two men, George Reddington and Felix Fire, began collecting alligators and placing them in one place together. The zoo continued to thrive for many years after this until a fire destroyed the entire place in 1921. Fortunately for zoo lovers everywhere, Fire and Reddington had already begun building a new place for the zoo before the fire and all the animals had already been transferred to the new facility. After these years, the zoo was eventually sold to new owners who continued to gain publicity for the zoo and it continued its rise to fame. The zoo became a place for research during the 1970s. After the 1970s the zoo went through more and more expansions, with the latest one being in 1993 when the Land of the Crocodiles was added. This exhibit features 23 different recognized species of crocodiles.